News

For financial institutions, 2008 started with something of a bang only to end with a pained whimper. As the year came to a close, 25 banks had failed. Though most were small institutions, Seattle-based Washington Mutual's collapse was the largest bank failure in U.S. history. Some brethren of the failed banks avoided a similar fate by accepting government bailout funds or merging with a healthier institution. Comparatively, there were just three bank failures in 2007 and none between 2004 and 2007. The focus on credit markets and capital requirements meant a shift in compliance priorities even as bank staff had...